Akatsuki BackUps! Mai's POV
by MechanicalDespair
Summary: When the Akatsuki decides they need backups they all get apprentices youmayhave heard the story from Kami's side but not from Mai's. Rated T for a few cusswords. I got permission from my friend to rewrite it from Mai's POV. I dont own naruto.
1. Chapter 1

My friend wrote the other Akatsuki BackUps! but that's from Kami's POV! This one is from Mai's POV! Enjoy! :3

Rated K+ for a couple cuss words.

Akatsuki BackUps! (Mai's POV)

As I was walking through the forest I quietly hummed a song that had somehow popped itself into my head. I'm Mai. I am 18. I have been on my own since I was 7. When both of my parents were brutally murdered. Ever since then I have been traveling from village to village. I had been forced to grow up. I had to learn how to take care of myself because I have siblings. And being a quiet and calm child I hadn't made very many friends so when I suddenly went missing my one and only friend Kami was the only one to notice. She was the only one back in my village that was different like I was. I had lost my one and only friend and I would probably never see her again. I didn't miss very many people but Kami was one of them.

Suddenly another beings thoughts and emotions being put into my head snapped me back to reality. Curious, I stopped humming. Did I tell you why I was different? I can hear and sense anyone's emotions around me. And when the bond is strong enough I can control them. As a reflex I reached down for one of my paper kunai or ninja stars that were strapped to my thigh. But before I could get a hold of one there was a sudden black and green blur and then there was a vice tight hold around my neck and as I felt the cold metal of a kunai against my neck I called out "Who are you?" There was a small pause. "Hello." A voice said. "Do not panic. I am Densa." The kunai was still at my throat. "Ok, so can you let me go now?" I asked. "Well not unless you go willingly." He said. "Ok but where are we going? And why?" I asked. "The Akatsuki." He replied. "They need you to be Konan's apprentice. Come now, we have no time to waste." Densa said grabbing my arm and pulling me in the opposite direction in which I was heading in.

"But who's Konan?" I pressed on. "You'll find out soon enough." Replied Densa. His hand had now moved to mine and I wrenched my hand away. He turned around to look at me, probably to make sure that I wasn't gonna turn around and try to escape. The sudden stop had caused my hair to fall into my face. He turned around and continued running into a part of the forest I didn't recognize. When we arrived at a suspicious-looking cave I was hesitant to go inside at first but after thinking about it for a minute and taking a deep breath I walked inside. As soon as I stepped inside the cave an orange flash took me by surprise and wrapped itself around my waist like a coil. "Uhh . . . Densa?" I asked "Yes Mai?" Densa said turning around to look at me. "What is this . . Thing?" Before Densa could answer the orange-faced thing started talking. "HELLO! TOBI IS VERY EXCITED TO HAVE A NEW MEMBER! TOBI'S NAME IS TOBI! IT IS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU MAI-CHAN! DOES MAI-CHAN HAVE ANY CANDY BY CHANCE?" I stared at the orange and black face that looked up at me.

"Uhh yeah that's Tobi. He asks everyone that." Said Densa helping me distangle Tobi from my waist. After we got Tobi off of me Densa led me to a room that must be the leader's office. He opened the door and gestured for me to go inside. I did and my ice blue eyes instantly floated to the ceiling. "You are Mai I assume?" Said the leader turning around to look at me. I nodded and my eyes drifted to the floor nervously. When I looked down my black and purple bangs swooped into my eyes. I looked up at the leader and pushed my hair out of my eyes. " I take it Densa explained why you are here. You are Konan's apprentice. She will give you all the instructions you will need. And you are expected to follow those instructions. Here is your uniform. You are expected to wear it during all working hours. Which you will discuss with Konan." He handed me a plain white cloak with one little red cloud on it. "When you become an actual member you will get the red and black one."

I slipped on the cloak over my pants, t-shirt, and missing grass ninja headband and buttoned it. He dismissed us and Densa showed me to Konan's room and as he was walking away he turned around , gave me a thumbs-up sign and mouthed 'good luck'. I half smiled and knocked lightly on the door. A tall, blue-haired woman answered the door. "Oh hello." She said she had a calm, deep voice that was comforting despite my nervousness. "You must be my apprentice." I nodded and she let me in. She looked at me with her amber-golden eyes. "Well? What is your name?" Konan asked. "M-mai." I stammered. She smiled a friendly smile and said "When do you want to train?" "How about from 6-10?" I asked. "Sure." She replied. My eyes floated to the ground again. My hair once again drifting into my eyes. When I looked back up at Konan she had busied herself with some paperwork the leader must have given her.

"So do you have any special talents?" She asked me looking up from her paperwork. "Yes, I'm pretty good with origami, and I can read peoples minds and emotions around me." She smiled. "How good are you with origami?" Konan asked. "Why don't I just show you?" I asked. "Sure." she said. I focused my chakra on a piece of paper and folded it into an owl. When I looked back up at Konan she was smiling. "Very interesting we do not have one of those talents here." She said. "Have you met the others yet?" Konan asked. I shook my head and said "Just the leader and Densa." "Oh well why don't I take you to meet the others?" She asked. "Ok." I replied. She went down the hallway not bothering to knock just opening doors and saying the names.

"Hidan, Kakuzu, Gage, Deidara. Sasori, Zetsu, Densa, Tobi which I'm sure you already met, the leader, Itachi, and Kisame." Konan said. "Wow that sure is a lot to remember." I said. "It's ok you get used to all of them I promise." She assured me with a smile. "I hope so." I said with the first real smile I had since I got here. Me and Konan walked back to her room. She went to the desk in the corner of the room and continued doing her paperwork. " Well, I hate to send you off this soon but I have to. We need you to go get Hidan's apprentice." Konan said. "Ok where is she located?" I asked. "She is located in the grass village forest. " Konan said,. "Ok Konan I will be on my way." I said. "Ok watch out for Tobi." She called back.

I could see the exit of the cave when all of a sudden Tobi bounced up to me and said "MAI-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? IS IT ON A MISSION? CAN I COME MAI-CHAN?" He squealed excitedly as he coiled himself around my waist again. "Not now, Tobi." I said pushing him down and off me. "OK! SEE YOU LATER MAI-CHAN!" He yelled as I exited the cave. I headed toward the forest in the grass village and as I was getting deeper into the forest I reached down and pulled up my headband which had dangled around my hips I pulled it up so that it fit snugly around my ribs. Realizing I wasn't prepared I reached down and grabbed one of my kunai just as the thought entered my mind "_God I wish these ridiculous fucking kids would just stop arguing and give me some peace and quiet for once._" I chuckled silently at the thoughts and then leapt out of my hiding place and grabbed one of them by the neck and pressed the kunai against their throat.

When I looked up I saw a very familiar face. It was Kami. I should have known. "Well what do we have here? Kami? I haven't seen you since we were 7! Remember me? Mai?" I felt her remembrance and relief flooded through me. "Mai!" She exclaimed. "I missed you! Where have you been?" She asked. "Oh just a missing ninja. You?" I asked. "Well when I was 12 I murdered a clan but other than that teaching little brats." I felt her annoyance again. "Oh these brats?" I asked. "Yeah." she replied. "So I would appreciate if you would let him go." She explained. " I'm afraid I can't do that, Kami. I'm under strict orders to bring you to The Akatsuki. I won't let him go unless you go willingly." She sighed. She thought things were complicated now. I almost laughed. I felt the guy I was holding about to charge but Kami stopped him.

"Whatever. I'll go. Just let him go first." Said Kami. I nodded and released him. He fell then got up and ran over to Kami. Kami walked over to stand next to me and nodded at her so-called students and said "Tell the Old Man I said suck it. It was too boring there anyway. Go back to the village." They tried to glare at Kami but failed miserably and ran off in the direction of the village. Kami reached up and drew a line through her headband. I started walking back to the Akatsuki. "Where are we going again?" Kami asked. "The Akatsuki, they need back-up people, and they want you to be Hidan's backup. You were the only Jashin worshipper that had any talent close to Hidan's. You have to spend a lot of time with him so I hope you don't mind cussing. I'm Konan's apprentice or whatever you want to call it. All we really do is make origami with our chakra." Kami sighed again. "Is it boring there? Will I be able to go on missions?" She asked. I laughed "It's anything but boring. Yeah, we will go on missions but we have to go with our partner. I don't have one yet so I don't go on missions. We already have a mini Kakuzu, his name is Gage. So you'll go on missions with him."

She looked confused but I didn't comment. On the rest of the way there we were silent. I looked at her with her magenta hair and steele-silver eyes it was no wonder why she stood out. As we entered the cave I prepared to have to drag Tobi off Kami. And sure enough just as we walked in Tobi tackled Kami to the ground and said "TOBI IS SO HAPPY TO HAVE A NEW MEMBER! TOBI'S NAME IS TOBI! NICE TO MEET YOU! DOES KAMI-CHAN HAVE ANY CANDY?" Kami shoved Tobi off and I tried to help. When we got Tobi off of her I took her to the leader's office when we walked in the leader turned to look at her. "You are Kami correct? I am sure Mai explained why you are here. You are to listen to Hidan's instructions. He will teach you everything you need to know. Here is your uniform, you are to wear it at all times during working hours, which you will discuss with Hidan." He handed her the same cloak that I had on. "Once you become a real member you will get the traditional and black cloak." Kami nodded and he dismissed us. I then led her to Hidan and Kakuzu's room then left her to her own and went to talk to Konan.


	2. Chapter 2

Akatsuki BackUps! (Mai's POV) Chapter 2

Rated T for Hidan's mouth and a few other things.

After asking Konan what we were going to be doing in training, I started walking back toward Kami and Gage's room to see how she was fitting in when I felt a rush of emotions _'fear, excitement, more fear' Then I was bombarded by another person. When I looked up I saw Kami she grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward the nearest room. She dragged me into a room with Deidara, Sasori, and 2 guys one with green hair and one with pink hair who seemed to be staring at me. They must be Deidara and Sasori's apprentices._

_We heard someone at the door and a string of cusswords coming from behind the door. Kami grabbed my hand again and dragged me into a closet and shut the door. We heard someone open the door and we heard Hidan who was out of breath say "Hey have you guys seen . . . (wheeze). . . The new girl. . . (cough cough) anywhere?"_

"_Uh yeah she ran into Sasori's closet." We heard someone say. "Thanks." Hidan opened the door and completely ignored me and Kami said "Hey there Hidan." Rubbing the back of her head. "Why are you so red?" She asked. "KAMI GET YOUR ASS BACK TO MY ROOM NOW!" Hidan shouted. "No!" Kami refused. "KAMI!" _

"_NO!" She shouted and shut the door again. The door opened and Hidan grabbed Kami by the waist and picked her up. "Kami get your ass up! Don't make me carry your heavy ass!" He held her like a small child for a while then he threw her over his shoulder and carried her out with her yelling and ranting getting louder. When they had gotten down the hall a bit and I couldn't hear Kami anymore I got up and slid out of the closet. When I got out of the closet the four boys stared at me the pink haired one looking extra creepy. "I'm sorry Kami can get a little crazy sometimes." I apologized. "No hard feelings." Said Deidara. "Ok see you guys later." I said and left the room._

_ On my way going back to my room I saw Densa in the kitchen and waved and walked over to him. "Hey." He said with a smile. "Hey whatcha doing?" I asked. "Cooking." He responded. "Oh, what are you making?" I asked. "Some kind of sushi recipe." He said as he scooped something that looked alive into the trash can. "Failed?" I asked. "Yeah I love cooking but I really suck at it. And by the way I never apologized for being so rude to you in the forest." He said. "What are you talking about? I've met way worse than you. Like Hidan." I said. He smirked and said "I'm still sorry." He turned to face me. "There is no need for an apology." I said. "Whatever." He said. As he was cleaning up his cooking utensils I asked "Done trying to cook?" "For today yes." He said with a half smile. "Have you met Kami yet?" I asked. "Yeah she ran into me in the hallway running from Hidan." He replied. "I knew her before we went to the same academy in the grass village." I said. "You're from the grass village?" He asked. "Yeah." I said unbuttoning my cloak to show him my headband that was tied around my ribs. " Me too." He said pointing to his left wrist where his was tied. "Cool." I said. "Yeah." "Anyway I'm gonna go back to my room.." I said "Yeah me too. I might as well go with you my room is on the way to yours."_

_He said. "Ok." I replied. We started walking back into the general direction to where our rooms are. We were silent most of the way there. It was still difficult for me to navigate around the hideout. When I thought I had gotten lost Densa suddenly said "So, you get a roommate yet?" He asked. "No and it sucks because I can't go on missions till I get a partner." I replied. "Oh don't worry." He said. "I won't ever get a partner so they will just tell me to go with you." He said. "Well, better you than some annoying person I don't know." I replied. "And I've been meaning to talk to you. I talked to Leader-Sama and he said that I could go back to my hideout and get the things that I need. And he told me that you had to come with me for safety reasons. But I think that he thinks that I can't take care of myself." I made a pouty face and Densa looked at me and laughed. "Ok, when do you want to go?" He asked. "In about an hour. Is that ok?" I asked. "Yeah sure. I'll come get you in an hour." He said. "Ok. See you later Densa." Densa looked back and waved and then continued walking down the hall toward his room. I was glad I had more than one friend here._

_ I took off my ninja shoes and set them in the bottom in the closet where I hung up my cloak. I flopped down on my bed and sighed running a hand through my hair. My hair was getting long again. Almost down to my ribs now. I would ask Kami if I show grow it out later. As I was about to take a cat-nap I heard a frantic knock on my door. But before I could get up and open it Tobi ripped the door open holding a plush toy cat. I sat up and sighed as Tobi pounced on my bed and yelled "MAI-CHAN! MAI-CHAN! CAN YOU HELP TOBI FIND BLUE-CHAN? TOBI LOST HIM!" Tobi whined. "Tobi who's Blue-chan?" I asked. "TOBI'S APPRENTICE! OH WHERE DID HE GO?" Tobi shouted. I noticed a guy with blue hair behind him. "Uhh Tobi have you checked behind you?" I asked. Tobi turned around and tackled the guy behind him with a hug. "BLUE-CHAN!" Tobi exclaimed. "I FINALLY FOUND YOU! COME ON BACK TO TOBI'S ROOM!" Tobi yelled as he left the room. The guy with blue hair he had left behind muttered something very quietly and turned to leave. "Wait, what did you say?" I asked as I got up and moved closer. "You noticed me too." He said a little louder. "Uhh yeah. You're not invisible." I said. "Yeah I know it's just not a lot of people notice me because I'm so quiet. And my name isn't Blue-chan. It's Vash. But he calls me that because of my hair. Anyway I better go before he loses me again. Bye." He said. I nodded and he left closing the door behind him. I decided I better get up I did and I brushed through my hair getting all the knots out. Or trying at least._

_ I had just slipped on my cloak when I heard a knock on my door, this time less frantic. Thinking that it was Tobi again I opened the door and said "No I haven't seen Blue-chan." I looked up to see Densa smirking. He chuckled and said "Tobi?" "Yeah." I replied. "Are you ready?" Densa asked. "Yeah almost hold on." I ran off to get my ninja shoes which were tucked away in my closet. I left the door open and Densa walked slowly into my room. I sat on my bed putting on my ninja shoes. "Who's idea was it to give Tobi an apprentice anyway? He's more like an apprentice himself." I said. "I don't know it was probably Leader-sama's idea." He replied picking up one of my origami flowers on the edge of my desk in the corner of the room. "How do you get these flowers so small?" He asked. "Patience. Practice." I replied. "Cool. Do you think you could teach me sometime?" He asked. "Yeah sure. It's actually quite easy. As long as you can focus." I replied. "Ok. Ready to go?" He asked with a lopsided grin. I stood up not noticing how close he was and almost bumped into him. "Well let's go." I said heading for the door. "Alright." He said carefully setting down the flower and walking toward me._

_ We headed toward the exit of the cave narrowly avoiding Tobi on our way out. I led the way through the forest. I stopped at my little shack in the middle of a clearing. Densa was clearly taken aback. "Did you build this?" He asked as we walked inside. "Yeah, why do you look so suprised?" I asked. "I didn't expect someone like to be able to do something like this." He replied. "Someone like me? What do you mean?" I asked. "Well just a girl like you I guess. Nevermind." He said looking at the ground. "Ok." I said grabbing an extra pair of kunai and ninja stars and stuffing them into the strap I had on my thigh. "Alright let's head back." I said slinging a backpack over my shoulder. "Ok." He said turning toward the door. As I walked outside of my now abandoned shack Densa asked "So why didn't you live in the village?" "Well some traumatizing stuff happened when I was a kid." I said. "What happened if you don't mind my asking?" He asked now curious. "Well when I was 7 I came back from my friends house to find my parents dead on the kitchen. They had not died of natural causes. Someone had murdered them. I don't know who. I wish I knew though. Just so I could make them suffer like they made me when I was younger. After they died and other people started to find out I left my village. So now I don't live there anymore." I said looking at the ground a tear pooled up around my eye and slid down my cheek. Densa looked at me. "Hey don't cry." He pleaded. "Forget I said anything." He said wiping the tear from my cheek with the sleeve of his cloak. "I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have even asked." He said._

_ "Hey don't be so hard on yourself." I said grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. "Sure it was rough with Kami being my only friend and my parents gone but I got through it." I said. "Well she's not your only friend now you've got me, Konan, Tobi, plus Kami, and Yukoru who by the way adores you." He said. "Who the hell is Yukoru?" I asked. "Pink-haired guy. Leaves a trail of pokemon cards everywhere." He replied. "Oh shit that guy?" I said. "Yeah I feel bad for you." He said. Densa sighed as we were walking. Somehow another song had popped itself into my brain. Without thinking I started humming it. Densa looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back and looked at the ground again. He pulled his dark hair out of his eyes and I noticed his eyes were a bright gold. "Now I'm really glad I haven't met him." I said. "Oh don't worry you will." Densa said smirking. We walked into the cave entrance luckily not running into Tobi. But I'm sure I would later. Walking through the kitchen to get to our rooms. Again silent. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Densa glance at me but I kept looking at the ground. I wondered what Kami was up to. I hadn't seen her all day. I'm sure she was kept busy so not too much destruction could happen. Almost passing my door I realized Densa had stopped too. He had stopped at my door that I almost passed. "See you later Densa." I said. "See you later, Mai." He replied._

_ I went into my room and a little while later Kami knocked on my door I opened and she explained that she had to stay in my room tonight because Tobi had broken the wall in her room. So we decided to have a sleepover and spent the night drinking monster and plotting against Tobi. That morning Tobi decided to eat all of the candy he could find not noticing the laxitives he had eaten. That night he had a sleepover in the bathroom. :3_


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up to a guy/girl barging into my door practically ripping the door of it's hinges.

"Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey! It's time to wake up! Breakfast is ready!" The person yelled.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. As you can see I am not very pleasant in the morning.

"I am Denka. I am the chef around here. I make a mean bowl of ramen." He replied.

"Why is it mean does it like poison people or something?" I asked.

"Well I guess it could. Anyways I'm Densa's brother." He replied.

I could see how they were related they both had that same green tint to their skin. His hair was a lot different though. He had snow white hair that covered his entire face, which explains why I couldn't really tell it was a him from her, it came straight down to his chin and covered his eyes, which I couldn't see, and the rest comes around his ear and frames his face. It is really short in the back, too.

"Well I've got to go wake up the others." He said turning to leave.

"Good luck with that!" I said getting out of bed since I really didn't have any other choice. He waved as he walked out of my room and I went to my closet to get my cloak. I slid it on my shoulders and buttoned half of it being too lazy to button the other half. Then I grabbed my ninja shoes and put them on. I left my room and went to the kitchen, where I saw Tobi, Vash, Konan, Jaypn, and Sasori at a table. As soon as I walked into the room Tobi bounced up to me.

"GOOD MORNING, MAI-CHAN!" He shouted. "COME SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE WITH US!" He said grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the table.

"Thanks, Tobi but I think I can find the table by myself." I said wrenching my hand away. I glanced at the others and they looked tired just as I did. I took the empty seat next to Konan, hoping that nobody planned on sitting there.

"We have training today, Mai." She said looking over at me.

"Ok." I replied. I looked up to see Densa shuffle out into the kitchen looking exhausted. Tobi repeated the same thing he had done with me to Densa. Densa looked like he was going to punch Tobi in the face. He sat in the chair across from me, I couldn't help but notice that it was the farthest chair from Tobi. The rest of the Akatsuki and the apprentices soon came out of their rooms and Denka set plates in front of all of us. I picked up my fork and picked at my food not eating very much due to me not being very hungry. I noticed Kami had never come down to breakfast but as I was cleaning off my plate I heard shuffling and looked over to see Kami shuffle down the hallway her wild magenta hair looked like a mess as she stumbled and fell into a chair.

"Hmmmmmn." She moaned.

"You ok Kami?" I asked

"Eh I spent the night in the bathroom because I sleepwalk." She said looking over at me.

"You missed breakfast. Have you met Denka yet?" I asked

"Yeah I met him yesterday, he makes really good sandwiches." She said.

"Cool. I also hear he makes really good ramen."

"Yeah he says it's mean though." She said smirking.

"Yeah I asked him if it poisoned people." I said smiling.

"Yeah well I better go before Hidan goes on a rampage looking for me." She said as she got up and walked down the hallway. After I finished washing off my plate I walked down the hallway to go to my room and take a nap to get some more sleep for training. When I literally ran into Densa because I was looking at the ground.

"Oh sorry." I muttered.

"No big deal. I'm tired too. Denka wakes us up way too early." He said smirking.

"Yeah no kidding. But I probably would've slept till like 3." I said smiling.

"Me too." He said.

"Yeah well I better go get some more sleep for training today." I said rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah me too. See you later." Densa said waving. I waved back as I continued down the hallway. I opened the door to my room I closed the door and flopped down on my bed pulling up the covers to my chin. I instantly fell asleep. A while later I woke up to Konan gently shaking my shoulder telling me "It's time to wake up."

"Huh? Oh ok." I said rubbing my eyes sitting up in bed. I got up and put my ninja shoes back on I hadn't bothered to take my cloak off so now it was a little bit wrinkled. As me and Konan were walking down the hallway I saw Deidara that guy Yukoru following behind him dropping pokemon cards. Yukoru looked up as I tried to sheild my face from his line of vision but it didn't work because he ran forward as soon as he saw me shouting " Mai! My love! Wait for me! Wait for me to summon Charizard and we can fly off together!" I ran in the other direction shouting

"I don't even know you!"

"Wait! Mai!" He shouted as I ran away. I hid in a closet I cracked the door open so that I could see out. I saw Yukoru run by. I came out of the closet looking around to make sure that he hadn't come back looking this way. I found Konan and we both walked to the arena together.

"Yukoru seems to have quite a thing for you." Konan said raising her eyebrows.

"I guess." I said shrugging."The feelings not mutual." I said. She looked over at me and smirked.

"I can tell." She said as we walked into the arena. I saw Kami and tried to talk to her but Deidara and that creepy guy walked into the arena. I tried to hide behind a tree as Yukoru looked around. He glanced over at Konan who was talking to Kami, and then looked at the tree I was hiding behind.

"Oh my sweet love! My Mai! Where have you been?" He shouted. I was taken aback that he had seen me let alone remembered me.

"I only met you like 2 hours ago! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled. Running from him. He chased me around in a lopsided circle. It's a good thing I was pretty fast but he was kinda slow also. Deidara called him over he looked at Deidara with a puppy dog look for a while but Deidara persisted. After he ordered Yukoru to stay in one spot Deidara walked over to me and said

"Hey I'm sorry about that. He kinda has a thing for you. By the way I'm Deidara. That's Yukoru he's my apprentice."

"Uh it's ok I guess. I'm Mai if you couldn't tell."

He smirked and said "Yeah Yukoru never shuts us about you. He goes on and on about how you're his 'ideal woman'."

"Oh great." I said sighing.

"Anyway, good luck in training." He said turning to walk away.

"Thanks." I said avoiding Yukoru's creepy stare. Me and Konan trained for a while building stamina and getting better with kunai. I learned how to draw them from the strap on my thigh. Me and Konan headed back to the regular hideout. When I went inside I found Densa on a couch looking exhausted again.

"Hey, Densa."

"Oh hey." He sighed.

"Are you ok?" I asked. Noticing he was completely out of breath.

"Yeah just really tired. Training is a pain in the ass." He said. Sitting up instead of just sprawled out on the couch.

"Yeah I just got back from training too." I said.

"Yeah Zetsu's training techniques are kicking my ass."

"Yeah Konan taught me how to draw me kunai and ninja stars faster." I said.

"Cool." He said.

"Yeah so Denka's your brother?" I asked.

"Yeah I refused to go with the Akatsuki unless they brought Denka with me. When they didn't go back for him I kept telling them about him and they decided to go get him from our village."

"I don't have any siblings. If I do they I have no idea they exist." I said looking at the ground.

"Denka's one of the most important people in my life. He's where my cooking inspiration comes from." He said with a smile.

"Well he's quite the cook." I said sitting down next to him.

"Yeah I try but somehow it never turns out right." He said half smiling.

"Well you can cook more than I can. I can't cook worth shit." I said laughing.

He smiled at me. " I doubt that. Here I'll make you a deal." He said.

"What kind of deal?" I asked.

"Well if you teach me how to make those little origami flowers, then I'll teach you how to cook as best as I can." He said raising his eyebrows and holding out his hand. "Deal?" He asked.

"Ok, Deal." I said shaking his hand. Just as I said that Hidan busted in the room carrying an injured Kami. And by injured I mean her foot was in her lap. Completely cut off. Her and Hidan were arguing as usual. Me and Densa both laughed, used to their craziness now.

"Well I'm gonna go take a shower." I said.

"Ok see you later, Mai" He replied. I waved as I left to go to my room. As I was heading back to my room I literally ran into another person.

"Oh sorry" I muttered as my hair fell into my eyes.

"Oh no I'm sorry I'm kinda new here and I don't really know my way around." I looked up and noticed he had blue hair that was spiked in all directions. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. I felt emotions flash through my head. _'shyness, nervousness, confusion.' _

"Oh it's fine. You get used to it trust me." I said.

"Do you know the way to Itachi and Kisame's room?" He asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I actually don't. The doors have labels, but it's a pain in the ass to look at all of the labels." I replied.

"Ok by the way I'm Kento." He said looking at the ground.

"I'm Mai." I said.

"Cool. I better go try to find that room. He said looking back down the hallway that he had just come out of.

"Ok see you later, Kento." I said. He waved as he walked in the other direction. After almost getting lost I noticed a trail of blood on the floor. It must be Kami I thought. I went to my room and took a shower. I sat on my bed not bothering to dry my hair. I just let the wet hair flow down my back. I noticed that it made the back of my shirt wet. I put on my cloak and headed into the kitchen. I saw Densa in the kitchen cooking something in a pot. I came up behind him trying to scare him. I came up behind him when he wasn't holding the pot and shouted "BOO!" Grabbing his shoulders.

"Nice try." He said turning around to face me. My hands slipped off his shoulders and I hung my head.

"Dammit!" I said.

"Oh it's ok. You're just not very sneaky." He said. I looked up to see him smiling.

I smiled back and said "Yeah I guess not. So what are you making this time?" I said pointing to the pot on the stove.

"Ramen." He said smiling. "See?" He asked removing the top of the pot.

"Uhhmm Densa?" I asked

"Yeah?" He said looking at me.

"Uhm why does it look discolored?" I asked.

"Hmm maybe I put too much salt in it." He said tapping his chin.

"Salt? Densa! You're not supposed to put salt in ramen!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, maybe that's why it looks all weird." He said. He got a spoon and scooped some up. He was about to put some in his mouth when I stopped him.

"Densa!" I said grabbing his hand and pulling the spoon away.

"You're right. That's not a good idea."

"Yeah, um no."

"Yeah I better get rid of this. Before someone trys to eat it." He said scooping the 'food' that again looked alive into the trashcan.

"Are you sure you want to teach me how to cook?" I asked.

"Yeah of course I'm sure. I will teach you as well as I can." He replied.

"Ok. So do you want me to teach you the origami first?" I asked.

"Sure." He replied.

"Ok let's go back to my room I have plenty enough paper in there."

"Ok." After helping densa clean out the pot we headed back down the hall to my room.

"Ok." I said opening the door. I handed him a piece of paper and told him to fold it in half. He did and I taught him the rest of it. When he was done it looked a little lopsided but good for a first try.

"Good job." I said looking at the folds he had made.

"Yeah I guess." He said with a half smile.

"You'll get better trust me." I said smiling.

"Here." He said handing me the flower.

"What?" I asked looking at the flower in his hands.

"Here I want you to keep it. It will probably get lost in my room anyway." He replied.

"Oh ok." I said taking the flower and hanging it up with the others.


	4. Chapter 4

Densa watched me hang up the flower. I looked back at him to see him smiling. I looked back at the flower it looked different from the other ones that I had made. And I noticed I had accidentally given him a different piece of paper then I normally used. So I could tell it from the others.  
"Wanna try again?" I asked.

"Sure." He replied. I handed him another piece of paper, he remembered most of the instructions but soon after I heard him ask:

"Hey, Mai? What do you do next?"

"Oh you fold it like this." I said taking the paper and folding it.

"Oh." He looked at the paper and nodded. Then he looked up at me.

"How do you remember all of this?" He asked.

"It's not that hard. Most flowers that you make have almost the same folding techniques. Like this one the flower is called a lotus. And you can also make a rose with almost the same steps." I replied.

"Oh ok."

"Yeah but sometimes it's easier to make them with your chakra." I said smirking.

"Yeah I can see how it would be easier. Like if you don't have nimble fingers. Like me you could jst learn how to fold it and use your chakra."

"Exactly." I said. He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back.

"So I'll teach you how to cook tomorrow or something?" He asked.

"Yeah sure. Whenever you want." I said. I was about to say something else but me and Densa both heard Gage and Kakuzu yelling and ranting. We both laughed.

"I'm gonna guess Kami made a mess." I said laughing.

"Yeah me too." He said as he smirked and chuckeled.

"Have you met Kento? I think he's Kisame's apprentice. He has blue hair and stuff kinda like Kisame." I asked.

"No I don't think I have." He said, looking down at the flower he had finished making.

"I wonder why I still don't have a roommate." I said looking at the empty bed.

"Leader-sama is probably just deciding what kind of apprentice he wants. You guys are probably going to have the hardest training since Leader-Sama and Konan are partners." He said looking up at me.

"Oh I doubt that." I said.

"Well you guys have to learn how to be Leader and Assistant Leader. That has to require some major training."

"I guess." I said shrugging. "Want me to teach you another flower?" I asked.

"Sure." He said. I got another piece of paper and taught him how to make a sunflower.

"That's suprisingly easy." He said raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah soon you will be able to make them smaller and smaller like these." I said picking up a very small flower off the wall and handing it to him.

"Oh I wish." He said picking up the flower and twisting it around. "You really do have quite a talent." He said carefully looking at the flower.

"Not really a lot of people know how to do this."

"Still." He said standing up and turning around to look at me. "And I haven't apologized for being intrusive in the forest. Again I was rude and I apologize." He said looking at me.

"What have I told you about that? There is no need for an apology. And you weren't being intrusive. You asked a simple question and I answered. There is nothing wrong with that." I said looking at the ground.

"I still feel bad for making you cry."

"You didn't make me cry. The memories did. It's not your fault." I said hoping he would just drop it.

"Whatever." He said. I saw Densa reach out towards me but I didn't notice till there was a knock on the door. His hand was still extended toward me when the door flew open. Kento stood there with Kami and Gage.

"Kento?" I asked.

"Yeah Mai we need to go. We have a double team mission."

"Um ok." I said running to get my cloak and ninja shoes. I could tell they were all confused that Densa was in my room.

"So why are we going on a double team mission?" I asked.

"Oh we are getting our partners." Replied Kento.

"Oh finally." I said. Densa walked toward the door as I did.

"I'll see you later Densa." I said walking down the hallway in the other direction. He waved and walked the other day.

"Ok now we need to stop by my room." Said Kento.


	5. Chapter 5

We were stopped at Kento's door. He had gone inside and all of us were standing outside. And by all of us I mean Kami, Gage, Kento, and me. Kento had been in there for abour 5 minutes and all of us were stilll curious about the mission. What I had been told was that all of us had to go to the forest to get me and Kento's partners. I was glad I was finally getting a partner. Now I could go on missions. Kento came out of his room about 10 minutes later. We all started walking toward the door, hurrying so we didn't run into Tobi. We walked out of the hideout into the sunlight. My pupils shrank at the sight of the sun. I hadn't been outside at all since training so the sun was extremely bright. I clamped my hand over my eyes and groaned. When I removed my hand Kami looked at me and smirked.

"It's bright." I mumbled.

"No shit."

Both of us chuckled and we kept walking we were walking into an unfamiliar forest. I had never seen this before I always took the other route. As we were walking I almost tripped over a branch. I was at the back of the group and I hoped I wouldn't get lost. Kento was leading the way, with Gage behind him and Kami behind him, and I was at the back. I almost lost them when a branch hit me in the face, leaving a scratch on my cheek. I touched my cheek and realized it was bleeding. _"Oh well. God dammit you stupid branch." _I thought as I kept walking. I could hear everyones emotions now.

Kami:_"Oh for the love of Jashin when are we gonna get there?"_

Gage:_"Why is this taking so long? Shouldn't we be there by now?"_

Kento: _"This sure is taking a long time. Why is this place so far from the hideout?" _

I tend to ignore other peoples thoughts, but for some reason they had found themselves into my brain. I hope that we would get there soon. My feet were starting to hurt from walking so much. I wonder why Leader-sama waited so long to find an apprentice. And why did Itachi take so long as well? All of the others were there for quite a long time. Maybe they were trying to decide between 2 people. Another rouge branch reached out and grabbed my ankle leaving an angry slash.

"Ow." I mumbled and pulled away. I touched my cheek and realized it was still bleeding. My ankle wasn't bleeding thankfully. I would have to clean my cheek so it wouldn't get infected though. That's gonna hurt like hell. I missed my comfy bed and wished I was in my room taking a cat-nap. I probably would be if I wasn't out here. Finally we reached a different terrain. It was long grass, which I liked better then that stupid branch shit. Now I could feel the soft grass gently sliding across my ankle. It stung a little bit but didn't hurt enough for me to worry. I hoped we were gonna get there soon. I was getting really tired. Finally, Kento stopped and showed us a little house that was off to the side.

"That's where your partner is , Mai." Kento said pointing to the house.

"Uh. . . ok." I said looking toward the house. "What do you want me to do? Bust through the door shouting 'IMMA FIRIN' MA LAZER!' ?" I asked. Which aroused a giggle from Kami.

"Um well no." Kento said. "We wait out here till he comes out and then we grab him."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" I asked.

"You and me. Kami and Gage are her for backup in case this guy is really powerful."

"Oh ok." We waited for a while in silence. Then we heard the door of the little house open and a guy with white hair came out.

"Ok, now!" Kento whispered and me and him charged toward the guy with white hair.

"What the hell?" He yelled. Kento had a kunai pressed against his throat. "Who are you?" He called out. I looked at Kento, wondering what to say.

"Uhm I'm Mai. The guy who is holding you is Kento. Just agree to come with us and we will let you go." I answered.

"Uhh ok. But where am I supposed to go?" He asked.

"We are going back to the Akatsuki. They want you to be the Leader's apprentice." I saw Kento loosen his hold a little bit.

"O-ok. I'll go." Kento let him go and he fell to the ground on his knees.

"Are you ok?" I asked crouching so I was at eye level.

"Yeah, I think so." He replied getting up. "By the way I am Mikashi."

"Ok nice to meet you Mikashi. As I said before I'm Mai, that's Kento, the one with the glasses is Gage, and the one with the pink hair is Kami." I said pointing to them.

"Well I would know what you guys looked like if I wasn't blind." He said looking at the ground.

"What?" I asked.

"Uh yeah I'm blind." This was the first time I got a good look at him and I noticed both of his eyes were completely black.

"Oh. Uhm ok." I said. "Well that means your hearing is really good, right?" I asked.

"Well, duh."

"Ok so just follow the sound of my footsteps. As long as you do that, you won't get lost. And by the way I got scratched a few times on the way up here, so be careful. I'll let you know if there is something you need to watch out for." He nodded and we started to walk away when I noticed he was just standing there.

"Here." I said grabbing his hand. "Just keep your hand on my shoulder."

"Ok." He replied and we started walking again. Then I remembered we had to get another person.

"So Kento how far is the other person from here?" I asked.

"Not too far. We'll be there soon." He replied.

"Ok." About 10 minutes later we stopped again and came upon a patch in the woods.

"Ok, she's right there." He said pointing to a girl with long red hair and bright green eyes.

"Alright, how about you and Kami get this one. Me and Gage will stay here with Mikashi."

"Ok." He whispered and they set off to go get the girl. Me and Gage were silent and so was Mikashi.

"So have you been blind ever since birth?" I asked.

"Yeah, and trust me it's not easy."

"I bet it's not." I heard Gage say. I felt Mikashi's emotions start to run through my head: '_a little bit of fear, curiousity, nervousness, total confusion.'_

"Don't worry. There is no need to be confused." Both Gage and Mikashi turned to look at me.

"What?" Gage asked.

"You didn't know that I can read everyones minds and emotions around me?" I asked.

"Uh, no." He said looking at me all confused.

"Well Mikashi was really confused because he's in an unfamiliar area, and he's afraid because we might hurt him. He's nervous because he hasn't ever had much human interaction." I said. "Right Mikashi?"

"Uh yeah." He said looking at the ground.

"By the way, we aren't gonna hurt you." I said. Then Kento and Kami came back with the girl we had seen before.

"Her name is Yumiko." Kento said. "She's a medical ninja."

"Ok. Yumiko just go in front of me." I said.

"Uh ok." She said quietly, looking confused at Mikashi. We all walked back to the hideout and when we went in we didn't see Tobi (thank god) I took Mikashi to Leader-sama's office and he explained it to him.

"Uh Leader-sama?" I asked.

"Yes, Mai?"

"Did you know that Mikashi is blind?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell us that?"

"I didn't feel that I had to. You were paying attention when I gave you the mission weren't you?" He asked.

"Well if you're asking if I read peoples' minds constantly then no. I wasn't. I always feel intrusive when I do." I said looking at the ground.

"You shouldn't. It's your ability, use it." He replied standing up from his chair."If I didn't think you don't have potential, you wouldn't be here." He said looking me straight in the eye.

"Ok, I will use it more often then."

"Good. Use it to your advantage. Get inside your enemie's head. Control it if you can."

"I'll try." And with that I turned and walked out. Mikashi was stilll holding onto my shoulder as I led him to our room.

"Ok." I said opening to door and leading him inside. "This is your bed." I said sitting him down on the bed. "My bed is exactly opposite of yours."

"I know." He said running his fingers across the comforter on the bed.

"What?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. I have this power that I can send out like a radar and I know where everything and everyone is." He said. "I assume that's my closet, too."

"Uh yep." I said. "By the way if you sense a little orange-faced creature get away as fast as you can."

"Why?"

"Because that's Tobi. And he tackles everyone. I know this from experience."

"Ok. I take your word for it."

"Good. Anyway, I can introduce you to everyone if you'd like."

"Ok."

"Alright. Ok this room is Densa's." I said pointing to the door."He's Zetsu's apprentice. This room is Kami and Gage's, they are Hidan and Kakuzu's apprentices. This one is Hidan and Kakuzu, they are very loud. This is Kisame and Itachi's room. This one is Yumiko and Kento. This one is Tobi. This is Vash's room. This one is Deidara and Sasori. This one is Jaypn and Yukoru, who is really creepy and has this huge crush on me. This one is Konan and Leader-sama's room, we are their apprentices you're Leader-sama's and I'm Konan's. Denka is probably in the kitchen he is the chef and makes all the food, and he's Densa's brother. And I think that's it."

"That's a lot to remember." He said.

"Yeah, I know. And just to let you know we will probably have the hardest training because you are Leader-sama's apprentice and I'm Konan's apprentice."

"Yeah I figured."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will personally meet everybody."

"Yeah but I'm gonna have to be with you a lot." He said looking towards the ceiling.

"Yeah I guess. I don't mind though." I opened the door to our room and realized I hadn't cleaned the cut on my cheek. He walked into the room and sat on his bed.

"I'll be right back. I have to go clean this cut on my cheek."

"Ok."

"And you don't have to stay here if you want. You can roam around the hideout if you want."

"I'll probably just stay here."

"Ok." I headed toward the bathroom to clean my cut, but on the way there I literally ran into Densa.

"Oh hi. It seems I'm always running into you." I said smirking.

"Yeah I guess. When did you guys get back?"

"Like 10 minutes ago."

"Oh. What happened to your cheek?" He asked gently running his finger along the cut.

"Oh a tree branch attacked me."

"What an evil tree."

"Yeah I know. Anyway I was just heading to the bathroom to clean it so it doesn't get infected." I started walking down the hallway and realized he was following me.

"So you finally got a partner huh?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Cool. So what's he like?"

"Well for starters he's blind." I said opening the bathroom door.

"Oh that's interesting."

"Yeah his eyes are like completely black." I said digging in the closet looking for the peroxide.

"Cool."

"Yeah." I said finding it and pouring some into the cap. I took a Q-tip and dipped it into the peroxide. I rubbed it on my cheek and hissed as it fizzled and stung.

"Now let's just hope Leader-same doesn't have a sense of humor." Densa said.

"Why? Ow!" I said. I seethed as the peroxide seeped into the cut.

"Because he might send you on a mission with Yukoru."

"Yeah let's hope not."I said as I took the Q-tip away from my face.

"Better?" Densa asked.

"Not really." I said grabbing a cloth and dabbing at my cheek.

"I don't go on a lot of missions. Mainly because I don't have a partner."

"Well you might go with Vash. Or Denka." I said. He looked at the ground.

"I guess." He replied. I crouched down and pulled up my pant leg to reveal a red diagonal slash on my ankle.

"Oh wow. That looks like it hurt." Densa said crouching down to see.

"Yeah, just a little." I said sarcastically. Densa looked at me and smirked.

"At least this one didn't bleed."

"Yeah." I turned off the light in the bathroom and closed the door. I reached down to fix my headband that had fallen down to my hips. Densa watched me as I re-tied it around my ribcage.

"Why do you wear your headband here?" He said poking my ribs. I jumped away on account of me being ticklish in my ribs.

"Don't do that." I said giggling.

"Sorry." He said smirking. "I didn't know you were ticklish."

"Lots of people don't." I replied.

"Yeah but anyway why do you wear your headband on your ribs?" He said poking me again.

"Stop it!" I said giggling. "And my mom wore her headband here, so I figure I should, for her."

"That's sweet." Densa said pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"I guess." I said frowning and looking at the ground.

"Hey, don't frown." He said reaching over and repeatedly poking my ribs.

"Stop it, Densa!" I said giggling.

"It's hard to take you seriously when you giggle like that." He said smiling.

"Then stop making me laugh."

"I can't! It's too funny to hear you giggle!"

"I'm gonna kill you." I said giggling.

"Alright, fine I'll stop."

"Good." I sighed and he stopped poking me.

"Wait." He said poking me again. "Ok I'm done."

"Good. Anyway I better go."

"Ok, see you later."

"See you later, Densa."

After that I showed Mikashi around the hideout. And he decided to try to find his way around. Let's just say that didn't work out too well. Their were very many lamps broken that night.


	6. Chapter 6

I hadn't seen Kami since the mission we went on and I was starting to get worried. A guy with silver hair and purplish eyes came up to me

"Hey you're friends with Kami, right?"

"Uhm, yeah. Who are you?"

"Oh I'm Hidan. Kami is my apprentice. Have you seen her?"

"Uh no I haven't."

"Well I better go look for her."

"Ok." He nodded and walked off. Nobody had seen Kami. That was weird. Just then a little orange-faced creature popped up.

"MAI-SEMPAI!"

"Uh hi Tobi."

"HAVE YOU SEEN KAMI-SEMPAI?" He yelled as he coiled himself around my waist. I wasn't wearing my cloak, and when Tobi pulled his head away from my waist my shirt was wet. He was crying.

"Uh no Tobi,I haven't. "

"OH NO! NOBODY HAS SEEN KAMI-SEMPAI! WHERE DID SHE GO?"

"I'm not sure, Tobi. I'll help you look for her, would you like that?"

"YES!TOBI WANTS EVERYBODY TO LOOK FOR KAMI-SEMPAI!"

"Ok I'll go get Gage and we will go look for her, ok?"

"OK MAI-SEMPAI! WAIT TOBI WANTS TO COME WITH MAI-SEMPAI!"

"Uh ok." I said prying him from my waist. Tobi bounced excitedly on the way to Gage's room. When we got there and knocked on the door Tobi wrapped himself around my waist again.

"Tobi, I'm claustrophobic." I said pushing him off.

"Oh. Sorry Mai-sempai."

"It's ok." I said patting his head. Gage opened the door and looked confused.

"Mai? Tobi?"

"Uh hi. Can you come with us to look for Kami?" I asked.

"Oh uh yeah sure. I've been worried. But I figured you would know where she went." He said, coming out of his room and giving me a weird look. I wondered if my mind stuff still freaked him out.

"No I don't know. Hidan went to look for her a while ago, I could sense that he was guilty. I wonder what happened." The three of us exited the cave, I noticed a lake that I hadn't seen before.

"Hey, we should check over there." I said pointing toward the lake.

"OK MAI-SEMPAI!" Tobi said running ahead. As we got near the lake, I heard Gage scream. I ran over to where he had been standing and found myself in the water as well. I quickly scrambled out, remembering I didn't know how to swim. I reached my hand down to Gage for help and helped him out. I looked down at the lake I had just been in to see a smirking Kami.

"Hey guys, did you miss me?"


	7. Chapter 7

This week had gone by really quick. Lots of stuff happened. Doesn't that sound awesome? Anyway a lot of stuff happened. Like Kami helping Denka with cooking and getting in the habit of waking everyone up. Which worried everyone. And along the way Densa created a new pet. A riceball, named Fudu. I had to admit, the little thing was growing on me. It normally rested on Densa's now red hair. (He had died it sometime earlier in the week.) And Fudu can also fly, or rather hover. Now pretty much all of the backups were in Leader-sama's office he had called us in. We were finally ready to go on this big mission that he had planned. Me and Konan had made a genjutsu that turned us all into 12 year olds for 7 months. How fun.

Anyway, we were all called into Leader-sama's office, and when we gathered us all in there he said: "You teams will be going to Konoha for a spy mission. We will be going under a ninja exchange program going on at this time. We need you guys to to a genjutsu that Konan and Mai have created to make it look like you were twelve again, which is crutial to this mission. The teams will be mixed up to match personalities so no one should complain. Mai and Yumiko will be paired up with The team ten group, which contains Nara Shikimaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akamichi Choji. Next is Kento and Mikashi, and you guys will be with team 9, which is with Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Abruame Shino. Next is Denka and Kami, who is with Team seven, with the rookies Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Densa and Gage are the only ones left, paired with Hyuuga Neji, Tenten (a/n: I have no idea if she has a last name T.T), and Lee Rock. Vash will be checking up on you once a week for six months. Remember, once you use the jutsu it will stay effective for seven months. So when you get back you will still be a child for a month. Your living conditions will be duscussed with the Hokage, so listen carefully. No one must know where you are from. You will trade the headband you are wearing for a Rain headband. Konan has gathered an assortment of clothes for when you for when you use the jutsu. You will change as soon as possible, because the clothes you are wearing won't fit when you shrink. You may keep any and all weapons you have."

After this all of us found clothes. Kami was wearing A LOT of stripes. She was wearing a striped T-shirt, shorts, striped stockings under the shorts, and combat boots. I had chose some black skinny jeans, some lace-up boots that stopped at the knee, and a white shirt that said " No one messes with the grim reaper." In colorful letters. Which is totally true. My hair was a lot longer. It was now only black and reached the back of my thighs. My hair fell into my face and I cursed the day I layered my hair like this.

"You look stripes?" I asked.

"Yep!" She said enthusiastically. About 10 minutes being 12 and I already knew Kami was gonna be a challenge.

"You guys have no imagination." Kami stated.

"Says the zebra." Gage said back. I zoned out for the rest of the conversation, know it would turn into an arguement. Suddenly the weight of Kami crashed into my lap, knocking us both to the ground. She screamed something about everyone hating her. I assured her no one hated her and asked her to get off me. She did and I continued not paying attention. I was snapped back to reality by Pein coming up right behind me and saying " You will all be leaving now so go gather your weapons." I nodded and started toward my room. Meanwhile Kami was going crazy. God help us.

When I got back to my room I realized Yumiko had followed me here. I left the door open for her. I went to my desk a grabbed the 2 thigh straps. I quickly slid them up the boots and over the skinny jeans and then packed them full of weapons. I also stuck a few longer and sharper kunai into the side of the boots. I pulled up my head band for like the 15th time and headed for the door. I followed Yumiko back to her room and she stuffed her weapons into a small pack that she slung over shoulder.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yes. I am ready. We may go now."

"Alright, let's go." We walked out to the village. Most of us being silent. Except for Kami, of course. When we got to the front of the gate Gage nodded at me and we both headed up to the guards at the gate.

"Hello there. " I said giving the cutest and most innocent look I could and began to push into their minds. "We would like to enter the village. Is that ok?" I said giving the guards puppy-dog eyes. "Please?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Both of them just nodded and they let us in. Gage stared at me open-mouthed. I looked over and smiled evilly at him.

"Alright, let's head to the Hokage's." Gage said nodding, gesturing for me to lead the way. I did and we soon got to the Hokage's office. I knew this because "Hokage's Office" Was written on the door in big bubble letters. Kami skipped in ahead of me and I sighed, knowing this would be bad. Gage zoomed in after her, and Densa followed. When I walked in Densa had Kami in a headlock. I giggled, which drew some attention from Densa who looked over at me. Kami cried out in pain and he let her go. I laughed again. He explained that all of us would be staying in an apartment with out partner and the rest of our team.

When me and Yumiko met out teams a bombardment of emotions of thoughts hit me, making me almost fall over. I remembered that I was 12, I wasn't as emotionally strong as 18 year old me. I swayed again and Yumiko grabbed my elbow and stood me up. I looked over at out team. There was a blonde girl dressed in purple, one guy who had his hair back in a spiky ponytail who looked and thought smart, and last there was an obviously over-weight kid who seemed to enjoy eating too much.

"Hello there." Said a guy who had a spiked black ponytail and a ciggarette in his mouth. He also smelled of smoke, ew. I winced at the scent but then recovered. "I'm Asuma. I am your sensei. You must be Mai and Yumiko, correct?" He asked, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth. I nodded and tried not to wince again.

"Well then, Mai I would like you to spar with Shikamaru. Just to see how powerful you are." He said, the one who looked smart, which I assumed was Shikamaru nodded and stepped forward, with a smug smile on his face. Boy, was he in for a suprise. I love it when people underestimate me.

"Alright. You got it Asume-sensei." I said stepping forward. I looked at Shikamaru, my eyes boring into his. He charged toward me, with a kunai in his hand. I giggled. I leapt forward, jumping over him. I landed behind him, on my feet. I grabbed his head and pulled a kunai from my thigh. I put it to his neck.

"Now now, you wouldn't really hurt me, would you?" I whispered in his ear, giggling. I loved how easy this was. He was breathing hard, so I decided to let him have his chance. I let him go tucking the kunai back into my thigh strap. I looked back over at my other teammates the blonde stood open-mouthed. I laughed again. Shikamaru quickly turned around, and charged at me again.

I rolled my eyes and jumped over him again. He looked behind him after I landed. He saw me and lunged forward. But before he could get me with the weapon in his hand, I looked in his eyes again, and began to take control of his mind. I gave him the puppy-eyes and he stopped dead in his tracks. I smiled. He was just too easy. He fell to his knees, dropping the weapon.

I grinned evilly. "See? I told you that you wouldn't really hurt me, and guess what, you didn't." I said walking over to him and picking up the weapon, still controlling his mind. I ran my finger along the kunai, it didn't even leave a scratch.

"Oh my, a weapon like this won't do. What were you thinking? You were no match for me from the very beginning, not with a weapon like this." I said throwing it. It landed about an inch from his head. I turned to face Asuma.

"Did I win?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Uh . . . yes." He said walking over to Shikamaru. I released his mind and he fell to the ground face-planting in the dirt. "Very good." Asuma said nodding.

"W-what happened?" Shikamaru stammered.

"I won our little duel."

"What? Impossible!"

"Now, now no need to be so defensive. There's no shame in losing to a girl. Especially with a weapon like that." I said. This seemed to upset him more.

"I didn't lose! You cheated!"

"Oh really? And how did I do that?" I asked tilting my head once again.

"You . . . you . . ." He stammered.

"I what?" I asked cupping my hand around my ear acting like I didn't hear.

"Nevermind this." He said getting up and walking back towards the other people.

"Now, Yumiko, I want you to battle Ino." He said. I almost laughed. Ino? That meant 'pig' in japanese. Who the hell would name their kid that? Of course I figured this to be the kid who was extremely over-weight. But then the blonde dressed in purple stepped forward and nodded. I shrugged and climbed a tree in about 3 seconds. I climbed to the very top and it was a very good view of the battle. Yumiko easily beat Ino with simple techniques, and we were introduced afterwards.

"Hello, I am Mai." I said walking up to the three.

"Hi there! I'm Ino. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Choji. When's lunch?"

"Hmmph." Shikamaru said and turned his head away from me. I nodded and Yumiko introduced herself.

After that we all headed back to the apartment that we were instructed to share. And I called dibs on not cooking dinner. I'm so nice huh?


	8. Chapter 8

The next day I woke up and shuffled out into the kitchen. I saw Yumiko at the stove putting what looked to be burnt waffles on a plate. I walked over to her.

"Good morning, Yumiko."

"Good morning, Mai. I have tried to make us waffles." She said handing me a plate of black waffles.

"They look a little overdone."

"Yes. Maybe it is best not to eat them."

"Yeah." I replied as I heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it." And I opened the door to see Denka and Kami, Denka was holding a tupperware container that had pancakes and bacon in it.

"Oh hey, Denka."

"Hi Mai, me and Kami brought you and all the others breakfast." He said with a smile handing me the container.

"Well, thank you, Yumiko made some waffles but they were a tad overdone."

"Oh. Have I mentioned how different you look as a 12 year old?" He said smirking.

"Don't push it. Just because you brought us breakfast doesn't mean I won't bite you." I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Ok, ok. Anyways, we better get going."

"Ok, see you guys later." They both waved and I closed the door.

"Hey Yumiko, guess who brought us breakfast just now?"

"Not Densa I hope."

"No it was Denka."

"Oh good."

"Yeah pancakes and bacon."

"Great." She said as she scooped the black waffles into the trash. I put about 5 pancakes and 3 strips of bacon on my plate and ate it all. After we both were done I figured we didn't wanna be late so we better get dressed and stuff. I walked back to my room and took a quick shower. After I was done I dressed in my normal clothes. As I was lacing up my boots Yumiko came in my room (without knocking) and told me to hurry up. I quickly finished lacing my boots and walked out to the living room where Yumiko was pacing by the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We have to go! Hurry!" She said literally pushing me out the door. So we ran back to the training arena where we met everyone there except Choji. I wonder where he was.

"Hey where's Choji?" I asked Ino.

"Oh! He's always late! " She said obviously discouraged.

"Ok, then." I said walking away. I had a feeling I wouldn't like Ino very much. I glanced at Shikamaru and found him looking at me, and he quickly looked away.

"Hmmph."

"Oh jeez, get over it already, you big baby." I said.

"I am not a big baby. And as I said yesterday, you cheated!"

"And again, I cheated, how?" I replied.

"I . . . You . . ." He tried to reply but couldn't come up with anything. Just then Asuma walked in.

"Hey kids, no Choji?" He asked looking around, lighting a ciggarette.

"Uh no I don't think he will be attending today." Ino said. I didn't know why, but I didn't like her. I narrowed my eyes.

"Alright, I don't have much planned for today." Asuma said, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth. I winced.

"So just uh, practice, or something, y'know, do ninja-ey stuff." I rasied my eyebrows but saw this as an opportunity to fight with Ino. I ran over to Ino, and tried to act all peppy like she does.

"Hey Ino! Do you wanna like fight?" I asked, feeling completely ridiculous. Why did she act this way?

"Oh my gosh! I was like just gonna ask you like the same thing!" She exclaimed.

"Ok!" I glanced at the others, and Yumiko's eyes were wide, and Shikamaru stood open-mouthed. My god, was she retarded or something, even Shikamaru can tell behavior like this is out of the ordinary for me. Reguardless, Ino lined up directly in front of me about 10 feet away. But then she remembered she didn't have a weapon. What an idiot.

"Oh wait! I like totally forgot my like weapon!" She said bounding over to a bad. She dug in it for a while and brought out a kunai. This one was sharper than Shikamaru's thank god. Hopefully she wouldn't be as easy. Ino charged at me. I let her get about 3 feet away from me before I jumped over her.

"Wha-! How did you do that?" She asked, turning around to look at me.

"Magic." I said in my normal voice, smirking. She suddenly gasped, as if noticing that I wasn't a complete idiot. And then I had the back of her head to my chest, and a kunai against her throat. She gasped again. I let her go and backed up she backed up also, the look of fear in her eyes. She glanced over at Asuma, who was doing a crossword puzzle. I took the time to read everyones mind.

Shikamaru: 'She's using the same techniques with Ino as she did with me. Why would she do that?'

Yumiko: 'Wow Ino sure is an idiot.'

Asuma: ' a five letter word for cat . . . '

Ino: 'What is she doing? Why is she just standing there? Oh Ino what did you get yourself into. You saw what she did to Shikamaru yesterday. I should have known'

I smirked and looked over at Shikamaru, who was staring at me and Ino. He looked away again, pretending not to be interested. I took a step toward Ino. Her eyes locked with mine as her mind went blank. Controlling her was just too easy. I laughed, which drew attention from Shikamaru.

He looked over and seeing the blank look on Ino's face his eyes widened. Yumiko had grabbed a stick and was drawing in the dirt. I walked up to Ino until she was about 2 feet away. I backed up a little and she dropped to the ground face-planting in the dirt. This was an affect from my mind taking over hers. Whenever I take control of a person's mind, they lose all control of their body and drop to the ground, I can force the body to do things and say things but in Ino's case I decided not to. I walked over and took her weapon, examining it.

"Wow Shikamaru, she has a better weapon then you did. I thought you were smarter than that. " I said smirking. I let Ino go and she rose from the ground, I threw the kunai at Shikamaru's feet causing him to jump and make a little squeaky noise. I walked back to Yumiko and sat next to her. Ino walked over to a rock and sat on it. She looked at the ground. And I again read everyones minds.

Ino: 'What the hell just happened? Why is there dirt on my face?'

Shikamaru: 'Woah. What just happened?'

Asuma: ' . . . five letter word for cat . . . wait! I got it! Kitty!'

Yumiko: 'When will they learn?'

I smirked and took one of the longer kunai that I hide in my boots and began to draw swirls and other random things into the dirt. I drew a picture of a cat and added little 'mews' near the cat to show that it was meowing. I giggled quietly at the picture and Yumiko looked over my shoulder at my picture.

"A cat huh?"

"Uh yeah."

"Why a cat?"

"Um . . . I . . . don't . . . know, I just like cats I guess."

"Hmm. Actually cats meow more than they mew, just saying."

"Suddenly a cat expert are ya." I grumbled as I added more details to the cat drawing.

"Asuma-sensei, do you have anything planned for today?" I asked now drawing a bunny.

"Kinda. We need to help an old lady with something."

"Oh ok! When do we do that?" I asked, in a hurry to do something because I was bored. I had such a short attention span when I was 12.

"I don't know. We'll go later."

"When is later?" I asked.

"I don't know, around 2 ok?"

"2! But that's such a long time away!"

"It's only an hour away." Yumiko said.

"Exactly!" I said in a hurry.

"We will go later." Asuma said, returning to his crossword puzzle.

"Fine." I said, I finished the bunny but what sound does a bunny make?

"Hey Yumiko?"

"Yes, Mai?"

"What sound does a bunny make?"

"You mean a rabbit?"

"I call it a bunny! Anyway what sound does a bunny make?"

"Um I don't know, like a chittery sound?"

"Hmm. Screw it this bunny can talk in english." I said as I wrote 'I want a carrot!' next to the bunny. "Oh Yumiko! Next I'm gonna draw a farm!" I said laughing. First I drew the farm itself drawing a X on the door like most farms did. After that I drew a duck and then a cow and next a sheep. I giggled as I finished with a horse.

"Ok! Let's go!" Asuma yelled. His sudden outburst had caused me and Yumiko to jump.

"Ok!" I said hopping up from my spot on the ground. I looked at my little zoo of animals and giggled. I pulled up my headband from my hips up to my ribs and followed the others into the village. I hummed a song, feeling better today then I did yesterday. I saw Yumiko glance at me suspiciously but then she quickly looked away.

Asuma stopped at an old looking place and an old woman came to the door.

"Oh you must be that young group of ninjas."

"Yes, these are my students."

"Very well. I need them to get that my cat out of that tree." She said pointing to a tree in the forest. I heard a 'mew' in the distance.

"Are you serious?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh my! That poor kitty!" I exclaimed, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"We better go get it!" I yelled sprinting towards the tree. Yumiko came to the tree immediately after me and the others arrived next, with Asuma being the last. He was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.

"You know Asuma, if you stopped smoking so much you would be healthier."

"Whatever. . . (wheeze)" Came his response.

"Ok who wants to climb the tree?" Shikamaru asked.

"Uh hey, Mai didn't you climb that tree yesterday when me and Ino were practicing?"

"Well yeah." In the next minute I found myself shimmying up a tree to get that kitty. I climbed until I reached the kitty. I reached out and grabbed the kitty.

"Well hello there kitty. Why did you climb up here?" I asked.

"Mew."

" Aww." I said as I climbed down the tree. When I was about 5 feet from the ground I jumped, but a tree branch scraped my cheek.

"Ow!" I said as I landed. Why are trees so evil? I walked back to the lady's house and handed her the cat.

"Here's the cat."

"Oh thank you."

"No problem." I walked back outside to meet Asuma and the others. Me and Yumiko walked back to the apartment soon after because we had nothing else to do. I went into my room and got a piece of paper. I quickly made a rose out of it with my chakra and set it on my desk. I brushed my hair across my face and hit the cut, causing a sharp pain.

"Ow." I said, I got up and went to the bathroom once agian finding the peroxide and cleaning it. I walked back to my room after that, making more flowers out of paper. I found a box of crayons and began to color them. I giggled as I hung up the flowers with tape. After that I decided to go to sleep. But then Yumiko woke me up for dinner and I ate and went back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up to Yumiko shaking my shoulders violently and shouting:

"Mai! Get the fuck up! We're gonna be late! Don't you remember?! Asuma told us that we had to be there early, so get your ass up!"

"Uuuughn." I groaned, not wanting to get up. After that Yumiko sighed and then picked me up like a baby, cradling me in her arms like a small child.

"Put me down." I mumbled.

"No. This is the only way I can get you out of bed."

"Aren't I heavy?"

"Not really. I thought you would weigh more than this. But apparently not."

"Ok whatever. I'm awake now, so you can, you know put me down now."

"Actually, it's quite fun to carry you. You remind me of a 3 year old."

"Hey! You meanie." I said, crossing my arms and pouting.

"Hehe, you look funny when you pout."

"Shut up!" I said as she set me down in a chair."So Yumiko what's for breakfast?"

"Uh . . . uh . . . I . . . I . . . Don't . . . know."

"Wow. Ok I'm getting some cereal."

"Make me some?" Yumiko asked, trying to look cute.

"Uh, I can't, I'm a 3 year old remember?"

"Oh ok. Fine I'll make you some cereal then."

"Ok thanks Yumiko!" I said smiling. A few minutes later she set a bowl of cereal in front of me. I took the spoon and scooped some cereal on it and shoved it in my mouth.

"Mmmmmm!" I yelled flailing my arms. Yumiko laughed at me, milk nearly coming out of her nose. I ate the rest of my cereal and washed out the bowl. Then I got dressed in my normal clothing instead of the purple featie pajamas I had been wearing earlier. The other day when I was climbing in the tree a branch had made a big hole in the back of my shirt. So, today I had to wear a different one.

I picked up a black shirt with little kitty designs on it and threw in on over the skinny jeans I was wearing. Then I slid on my boots, lacing them up like normal. I walked out into the living room to find Yumiko on the couch coloring a piece of paper.

"Ready to go?" She asked looking up at me.

"Uh yeah sure." We left and started walking to the training place where we all met in the morning. When we got there I saw Shikamaru and Ino there along with Choji.

"You're late. What a drag." Shikamaru said, looking at me and Yumiko.

"Yeah you guys are late." Ino said crossing her arms. Ugh I REALLY didn't like her. I sighed and sat down on the ground again. I saw my little dirt animal farm I had made the other day. Remembering that I laughed and all of them looked at me like I was crazy, and who's to say that I'm not? After a while Asuma showed up, with a ciggarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Ok good. You guys are here." He said puffing some smoke. "You guys will be with Kakashi's team for a while because the Hokage sent me on a mission. Now kids beware: Kakashi might not show up. If he does he will say 'I got lost on the path of life.' But that just means he's lazy."

All of us laughed but Shikamaru.

"Ugh. How long are we going to be with Kakashi's team?" Shikamaru asked.

"Um I'm not completely sure yet." Asume answered.

"Ugh. How troublesome."

I suddenly remembered Kami and Denka were on Kakashi's team. Along with some other people.

"Oh yay! Kakashi's team! Yumiko remember: Kami and Denka are on Kakashi's team!" I yelled, jumping on Yumiko's back.

"Yeah I remember." She said and started piggy-backing me to where Kakashi's team was. When we got there the first thing I saw was a black-haired guy who was leaning against a tree, looking bored. I jumped off of Yumiko's back and landed on my feet. The guy looked over and stared at me for a few seconds. I shrugged and turned to see a pink-haired girl running towards the black-haired guy.

"Sasuke!" She screamed. "Sasuke!" She yelled as she tripped and landed right on her face. I flung my hand over my mouth trying hard not to laugh. A few giggles slipped out and the guy named Sasuke looked over at me again. I looked again to see the pink-haired girl getting up from the ground still running for Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" She yelled finally getting to him.

"Sakura, shut up." He said turning his head away uninterested. I almost laughed at this, too. After Sasuke walked off in another direction the girl named Sakura walked towards me.

"Hey! I'm Sakura Haruno! Let's be friends! Oh and I saw Sasuke looking at you, and he's mine so stay away!" She yelled. I wanted to punch her in the face. I took a step closer and tried not to kill her.

"First, you little idiot, I am not the least bit interested in that Sasuke-guy. Second, you claim you want to be friends with me and then threaten me over some stupid boy. What kind of person does that?"

"Sasuke is not stupid!" She yelled stomping off. I rolled my eyes and looked over towards the trees where I saw a blonde boy dressed in orange, emerging from the forest. He walked toward me, looking confused.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"It's more polite to give your own name first but, I'm Mai. What's your name?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" He yelled.

"Ok, then."

"I take it you've met my other teammates. See her?" He asked pointing to Sakura."That's Sakura Haruno, she's in love with me, but would never admit it, so don't ask her."

"Yeah I know her."

"Ok. Now you see that guy?" He said. "That's Sasuke Uchiha." He said looking angry.

_''Uchiha? Where have I heard that before?" _I wondered to myself, but shrugged it off.

"Isn't Kami on your team also?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, where is she?"

"Um . . . I don't know." He replied, looking around.

"Oh no. That's bad. We need to find her!"

"Why is this bad?" He asked.

"Because she is probably causing havoc right now."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, where can I find her?" I asked, looking around.

"Probably this way." He said, running in the opposite direction. I walked after him slowly making my way through the forest. I thought I had gotten lost but then I heard Ino.

"Sasuke!" She yelled. I followed the direction of her voice. After a minute or two I finally found where he had fun off to. I cleared the bushes in my way to find Ino attached to Sasuke, and I felt bad for him. Then I saw Kami she came over to Ino and then they both started yelling, so I decided to hang back for a bit. Something touched my shoulder and I freaked out, jumping and drawing a kunai. I turned around to find Yumiko looking confused.

"Yumiko! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry, Mai."

"It's alright." I said as we both walked through the bushes. When I got there I saw Kami glaring at Sakura. _'The feeling's mutual."_ I thought. "Hey Kami!" I yelled. Kami turned slowly and started running in slow motion to us.

"Kami . . . What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

"I'm being dramatic, don't ruin the moment!" She yelled at me.

"Uh . . . Kami?

"WHAT?"

"I think you just ruined it." I said.

"FUCK YOU! JUST . . . FUCK YOU ALL!" She yelled. After a few moment of staring at us, she gripped us in a vice tight hug, me and Yumiko luckily slipped away and Kami ran back to a tree, sulking. I walked over to Denka, who was glaring at Ino, who was still attached to Sasuke.

"Hey Denka! What's up?"

"Huh? Oh hey Mai. I'm just trying to be nice to everyone. It's difficult. How do you be nice to people all the time?"

"Denka."

"What?"

"I'm almost never nice to people."

"Oh right."

"So where's Kakashi-Sensei?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know. I doubt he'll even show up today. Half the time he's late, and the other half, he's not ever here!"

"Huh. Well at least he's not a smoker like Asuma-Sensei. I think I'm starting to smell like smoke." Densa shrugged and I walked off to go sit somewhere. I found a tree stump and sat on it, taking out a kunai and carving random things into the stump. I carved 'The Game.' into the stump I snickered and carved some more things. A little bit later Shikamaru and Choji showed up and Kami met them in a quite interesting way. But I stopped paying attention in the middle of the confrontation. Just as Denka had predicted, Kakashi didn't show up. I was walking home with Kami, Naruto, Denka, and Yumiko when Naruto stopped at a ramen shop and quickly ran under the curtain.

Kami walked in after him and all of us filed in after. Kami sat next to Naruto on one side of the table and me, Yumiko, and Denka sat on the other side. I sat in the middle between the two, and I noticed that Kami was being very quiet, which was extremely out of character for her. I shrugged it off, and watched Naruto wait impatiently for the waiter to come to take our order. The waiter then showed up and we all ordered, when the food came I watched Naruto inhale bowl after bowl. I ate quietly, nibbling on my food until the majority of it was gone. Kami left the shop, and I stood up to follow her but Denka grabbed my hand and shook his head, indicating I shouldn't go. I sat back down and tried not to worry about her. After we all were done I realized none of us had money, when the bill came, I sat there, drawing on my napkin with a crayon. Denka sighed and took the bill leaving money on top of it.

"Thank you, Denka!" Naruto said.

"Yeah, thanks." I thanked him also. Yumiko didn't eat so she sat there examining my drawing.

"What _is_ that?" She asked, looking scared.

"Oh, that's Mittens. He's my alligator-jackal-penguin. Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Yeah, if you're insane."

"Thank you!" I said. She sighed and all of us left, Naruto walked back in the direction of his apartment, waving at us. We all waved back. Yumiko tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm tired, I'm gonna go home. See you later?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

" 'Kay." I said. After Yumiko left I turned to Denka.

"Denka, we need to find Kami!"

"I know, I know." He said, whirling around looking for her.

"Where could she have gone?" I asked, worried.

" I don't know. You think she went back home?" He asked.

"No. I don't know where she is, but I know she's not there." I replied. Me and Denka started running down the streets, looking in all the shops. We stopped at an alley. I sat down pulling my knees up to my chest, breathing hard from running. Denka stayed standing.

"Denka, what if we don't find her? What if she's hurt?" I asked, going into panic mode.

"I don't know, Mai! Let's not think worst case cenario." He replied

"Ok, whatever." I said, my voice breaking a little.

"Hey." Denka said, sitting next to me." We're gonna find her. She's Kami, she's not gonna stay hidden for long. Trust me. For not let's just go home, and see if she comes home." He said standing up and pulling me up with him. We walked home in silence.

"See you later, Denka. Let me know if Kami comes home." I said waving.

" Ok. Bye." He replied, going into his apartment. I went into me and Yumiko's and went straight to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

I felt something heavy collapse on top of me and woke with a start. I shook my head, trying to remember what was going on. I stood up and rubbed my eyes, I looked over at the couch to see Kami sitting there, and I remembered what had happened.

_Flashback!_

_Kami suddenly got up and walked out of the restaurant. I stood up to follow her but Denka grabbed my wrist. I looked over at him and he shook his head. I reluctantly sat back down, worried about her. _

_Fast Forward_

_Me and Denka had looked nearly everywhere for Kami, we couldn't find her, I leaned back against a wooden fence and slid down so I sat on the ground. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them._

_"Don't worry. We'll find her." Denka said, sitting down next to me and patting my shoulder._

_"I'm just worried." I replied._

__End of Flashback__

I glared at Kami now, she sat on the couch, looking innocent. My eyes glazed with anger.

"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU? YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS! DENKA ACTUALLY CALLED BACK TO BASE AND REPORTED YOU MISSING! YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU MADE ALL OF US WORRIED! YOU _ASS_! I NEVER, EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! GO AWAY! RUN AWAY AGAIN! I WON'T CARE! GO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!" I screamed at her. I only cussed like this if I was really mad. I turned and left, slamming the door behind me. I walked back to my apartment, I had slept on the couch waiting for her to come home, she'd already gone missing once. Everyone had been worried, Pein is probably totally pissed off now. I hope he calms down before we go home.

I ran over what I said to her in my head, I hadn't meant for my words to come out like that, they just did. I always do that, say things I don't mean when I'm mad. I'll apologize to her later. I suddenly remembered the Chunin exams were going to be soon, and groaned out loud. I had already gone through that once, and was not excited to do it again. I opened the door to the apartment and Yumiko was sitting on the couch, looking stressed.

"Mai. Where were you? Did Kami come home? Is she ok?" She asked frantically.

"I was at her place. She came home, and she's fine. I'm gonna go change. I'll meet you at the training grounds, ok?" I said.

"Yeah, ok." She said, and turned for the door. I walked back to my room, nothing was different or out of place. I went to my closet and picked out a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and a different pair of pants. I quickly changed and ran a brush through my hair and then left, skipping breakfast. I walked to the training grounds, surely I was going to be the last one to be there. No doubt Ino would point that out. I sighed as I walked into the training grounds, I was right, I was the last one.

"Mai! You're late!" Ino said, glaring at me.

"Really? No shit, dumbass." I replied, glaring right back. I was not dealing with her today. Her eyes widened and she backed off, I'm sure the others could feel the anger coming off of me now. Yumiko sat on a tree stump, and I sat down on the ground next to her. Asuma was back, and was explaining that we would be practicing for the Chunin exams.

I took out a kunai and began to draw random swirls and flowers in the dirt, not really listening anymore. I'm not really fond of this mission, in fact I don't like it at all. I hated being 12 then, and I hate being 12 now. I got bored and decided to read all the emotions around me. I didn't like reading Yumiko's thoughts, so I didn't bother with her.

_'I'm hungry. When's lunch?' Choji thought._

_'Ugh, training. What a drag.' Shikamaru thought. _

_'Chunin exams? I wonder if Sasuke's going to be in them too!' Ino thought._

I sighed. Yumiko put a hand on my shoulder and I leaned back against the tree trunk. Yumiko had become one of my favorite people over the last couple of weeks, she was quiet, and simple. I was glad to have her as my partner in this. My mind drifted back to Kami, I said I'd hated her. A pang of sadness hit me and I winced, I don't take to emotions very well. I don't hate her, what was I thinking? I hadn't realized it, but all the time while I was thinking I had been drawing angry slashes in the dirt. Yumiko's hand suddenly came down on my shoulder again and I jumped, and then relaxed. This was going to be a long week.


End file.
